


AMBRIDGE: ESSAYS ON AN ENGLISH VILLAGE

by Ina MacAllan (inamac)



Category: The Archers (Radio)
Genre: Analysis, Essays, Family History, Gen, Geography, Meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-01-21 19:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12464696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inamac/pseuds/Ina%20MacAllan
Summary: These essays are the result of my decision to write a story set in Ambridge at the time when Doris Forrest was employed as maid to Lettie Lawson-Hope.  This has raised a number of questions about Ambridge, its oldest inhabitants, its history and geography that have required some research.To quote those who have gone before me in exploring the background of long-running BBC stories:[The writers] weren't normally bothered about how their ideas fitted in with something that was written 20 years previously, nor should they have been.... It is the job of the fan to worry about such things, to ponder the three entirely separate explanations for the sinking of Atlantis.Cornell, Day and Topping,Doctor Who: The Discontinuity Guide1994The Archers has longer history than Doctor Who, and a lot of 'secondary canon' associated with it, consequently there are considerably more 'continuity glitches' to worry about.  To some extent, for the fanwriter as for the drama's scriptwriters superficial research and intuition can carry one through, and the nit-picking of readers and listeners can be met with the arrogance of Petruchio:It shall be what o'clock I say it is.





	1. Where did the Lawson Hopes Live?

Chapter 1 **Where did the Lawson-Hopes live?**

My first problem was finding out where the Lawson-Hope family, Squires and Lords of the Manor of Ambridge, were living in the 1920s – 30s. This proved to be a rather more difficult problem than I had anticipated.

The Wikipedia entry for Manor houses gives a good outline of the sort of house usually occupied by the Lord of an English Manor. 

_A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with manorial tenants and great banquets. The term is today loosely applied to various country houses, frequently dating from the late medieval era, which formerly housed the gentry._

The extent of the Manor of Ambridge, together with that of the Manors of Lyttleton and Penny Hasset, are shown on the late 18C map in the frontispiece of 25Y. Two of these areas have an associated 'Manor house or Manor Court (tautological though that is); Lyttleton Manor, on the site of Home Farm, and Manor Court in the area of Penny Hassett. Ambridge Manor, which should be to the south west of the map, close to the site of the medieval village of Ambridge, is not shown. 

The remnants of the original medieval village of Ambridge have been unearthed (literally) at Grange Farm (AlTreg p34), which lies southwest of the present village and off the same road as the present Dower House (of which more later). The land was part of the estate of the monks of Darrington Abbey, and manor houses are historically linked to the administration of abbey lands so it is certainly possible that the original tenth century Lord of the Manor of Ambridge lived somewhere in this area. 

We do not know the family name of these original Lords of Ambridge – they may have been Archers, or Gabriels, or Forrests - the oldest family names in Ambridge – but we do know that since at least 1472 when Simon Lawson brought the Manors of Ambridge and Lyttleton. (AlTreg p 52), the local squire was a Lawson. 

It is not known whether Simon Lawson lived in the Manor house of Ambridge or the one belonging to Lyttleton. However, by the 1600s a 'new' Manor House had been built on the Lyttleton lands. This Lyttleton Manor House (known, confusingly, as Ambridge Court (TBOTA)), was on the site that is now Home Farm.

By the 1680s the Lawsons were living 'in genteel poverty' at this newbuilt property. In an effort to improve their fortunes the notorious John (Black) Lawson married rich heiress Annabel Hope, adding her name to his. The dreadful story of her abuse and the eventual demise of her rakehell husband is well known in the village.(AlTreg p 114). The Lawson-Hopes continued as Lords of the Manor, but they clearly can't have been inhabiting Ambridge Court for much longer as it appears to have vanished entirely into the Home Farm curtilage by the time Doris Forrest was working as a maid to Letty Lawson-Hope.

It is not too much of a leap to suppose that the traumatised Annabel would have left the house where she was so unhappy and moved to Ambridge Manor, perhaps using her fortune to renovate or rebuild the original medieval structure as a home for herself and her son, Charles. In due course, when Charles took a wife, she may have moved to a Dower House built a short distance from the Manor House (the present day Dower House appears to be of Queen Anne or Georgian design having been built in the early 18C). 

The Lawson-Hope fortunes continued to improve after Black Lawson's death, to the point in the 1860s where the then Squire could afford to build the yellow brick Ambridge Hall for the local doctor. He also owned Glebe Cottage and (surprisingly as it is apparently on Penny Hasset Manor land) Blossom Hill Cottage.

So where did Lettie, her husband, Francis (and maid, Doris), live? There is a photograph in AlTreg (p97) showing Letty Lawson Hope outside the Dower House which suggests a date of around 1915, and of Francis, of around the same date (AlTreg p99). Since Francis survived until at least 1954 when he sold the Estate it seems unlikely that she was living in the Dower House. (NB. Dower Houses are more usually associated with the larger homes of the landed gentry than with local manor houses, but in the case of Ambridge there is no other property which could be associated with the Dower House so we must assume that it is physically related to Ambridge Manor just as The Lodge is related to Grey Gables.)

We do know that the Dower House was eventually sold to the Bellamys, and Lillian and Ralph lived there. The property currently shown on the BBC website is a substantial Queen Anne or Georgian brick house of three storeys, a with a facade showing five large windows on the first floor and a further three attic gables above. This is exceptionally grand for a dower house, which would normally be too small to host the shooting parties and country weekends that were a feature of the lives of the Lawson-Hopes. It is also rather larger than the illustration given of the Dower House in 1994 'Archers Addicts' Official Map which has only three windows on the upper storey but retains the three attic mansards, and of the one in the background of the Lettie photograph which is a steeply roofed 17C house smaller still. Perhaps later owners enlarged it, but the aural picture of Lillian's home today does not suggest such a very large property – perhaps the servants rooms in the attic and half of the grand reception rooms have been shut up and left dust-shrouded to moulder away.)

I have traced only one specific reference to a present day Ambridge Manor in the published Archers literature, a tantalising comment in Snell (p95) worth quoting in full:

_It is a well-known fact that feudalism still existed in Ambridge in the mid-1950s in the shape of the Lawson-Hope family, who had been seated at the Manor (now the residence of a retired businessman) since the tenth century – with a family coat of arms to prove it._ (p95)

Lynda discusses Manor Court, Grey Gables, Arkwright Hall and Home Farm (formerly Lyttleton Manor) and the Dower House, along with their current occupants, elsewhere in her book, so this appears to be a property separate from them, and still in existence, at least in 1997.

There is a second reference in WarMem to the Ambridge war memorial which was _donated to the parish by Miss Adeline Smith of The Manor_. This suggests that Miss Smith was a lady of some fortune - though her position at the Manor while it was still the home of the Lawson Hopes gives food for speculation.

Before accepting this it is worth considering whether there might be another candidate for the Lawson-Hope residence.

Most people familiar with _The Archers_ when asked about 'the Ambridge Manor House' will think first of 'Manor Court'. This is, after the Cat and Fiddle pub, one of the most elusive buildings in Ambridge. The maps in the frontispiece of both 25Y and 30Y both show Manor Court as being north of Grey Gables with Blossom Hill Cottage either down (25Y) or further up (30Y) the hill. Manor Court was originally the home of the Bellamys (Admiral Bellamy in the 1930s) At this time it was clearly not a contender for the Lawson Hope home, and its position, and the title of Squire given to its owners suggests that it may be the primary seat of the Lords of the Manor of Penny Hassett rather than Ambridge.

By 1994, and up to the present day, Manor Court is in the centre of the village, opposite Manorfield Close and by the lane or drive leading up to Arkwright Hall. This 'new' Manor Court, despite being now in the heart of the village, hasn't had a mention for years, not even from Lillian who might be expected to have a passing interest in it given that her second husband was a Bellamy. It certainly does not appear to have either the age or the location one would expect for a Manoral seat. Almost certainly this property, and the other 'Manor' names in this area of the village (Manorfield Close and the Manor House Flats (25Y)) have been named in relation to the original Lyttleton Manor. There is one reference to Manor House Flats actually being Lyttleton Manor, before it was converted back into a farmhouse for Home Farm, the same map shows Home Farm as 'Ambridge Manor' – confused?

Arkwright Hall has the distinction of being another 17C addition to the village, though it avoided the fate of its contemporary Ambridge Court and survived more or less intact until the Victorian era when it was given an extensive make-over, whether by the Lawson-Hopes or by some forgotten rival local squire we can't know.

The Victorian era saw a considerable spate of building in Ambridge, to an extent one would usually associate with a larger town or an industrial community rather than a farming village like Ambridge. Grey Gables, was built at this time, on land which appears to have been carved from Ambridge estate. It is certainly possible that the Victorian Lawson-Hope who built Glebe Cottage and Ambridge Hall (the latter for the local doctor) may have built Grey Gables for himself and his family – but it seems unlikely.

It is worth noting that The Lodge (a black-and-white timbered building which may be contemporary with The Bull, or be a 1930s pastiche) is located where one would expect to find the Dower House, if Grey Gables (or some unknown predecessor) was a manor house.

There may be a clue in the real-life models for Ambridge: Inkberrow and Hanbury in Worcestershire (Nicholls). Illustrations of The Bull in Ambridge are identical with the Old Bull in Inkberrow. There is a Manor house in Hanbury, now an hotel, but outwardly an impressive red brick Jacobean building with ranks of tall chimneys and lead-lighted bay windows which is very much the sort of building hinted at by the histories of Ambridge Manor.

The red brick gives a further clue to the location and style of Ambridge Manor, and two more possibilities. Red House Farm is shown on maps as close to the Dower House and opposite Grange Farm on the Waterley Cross road. If the modern day Home Farm was originally Lyttleton Manor, could the modern day Red House farm be all that remains of the original Ambridge Manor with its red Tudor brick and timber studwork?

Or is there another 'Red House' hidden in the woods and folds of Heydon Berrow beyond the Dower House? Could the home of Annabell Lawson-Hope, the original Ambridge Manor house, with its reclusive new businessman owner still survive with some at least of its early medieval features intact? And was it from here that Squire Lawson-Hope managed his estates, collected his rents, and held the shooting parties and house parties so much a feature of life in Ambridge between the Wars?


	2. The Farmers: Archers and Forrests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The BBC began to broadcast its stories from Ambridge in 1951, but what about the previous 60 years? In researching the family trees of the denizens of Ambridge in order to find out who inhabited the village and its surrounding area in the 1920s to 30s I have been thrown heavily on deduction and speculation, and come across some surprises along the way.
> 
> This chapter covers the farming families.
> 
> NB Names in **bold** are from BBC sources. Others are speculative or just plain made up.

The Archers

The earliest Archers I have traced are those pictured in AlTreg (p94-95). **Benjamin Francis Archer** (1797 - circa 1899) is the family patriarch. There is no record of his wife's name, but their son was the first Dan, **Daniel William Archer** (1828-1890) who married **Elizabeth Simms** of Lower Croxley, and spent her dowry of £700 within six months of the marriage. Their son, John, shown in the picture with his grandfather Benjamin at the age of about 6, was born in 1858.

This is the **John Archer** (1858-?) at the top of the BBC published family tree, who married **Phoebe** (no surname or birthdate known) sometime before 1896 when he fathered their first son and heir, **Dan** , at the age of 38.

We can speculate on a birthdate for Phoebe sometime in the 1860s, since she must have been considerably younger than her husband to have had three sons by 1911. Neither appear to have reached their 90s since they are dead by the time the series starts. John would, however, have been in his 60s in the 1920s when Dan took over the tenancy of Brookfield (presumably on his father's retirement) and Doris in service with the Lawson-Hopes. John and Phoebe's first son, **Daniel** was named for his grandfather and born on 15 October 1896 (d 23 April 1986) This means that John was 36 when he fathered his first son, 

Two years later, in 1898 their second son, **John Benjamin** (known as Ben) was born. Ben emigrated to Canada where he married French Canadian **Simone Delamain** sometime around 1918 (there is no record of Ben having seen service during the War). There are no children of this marriage recorded but Simone died young (in 1929) so an unrecorded second marriage is possible and there may be a Canadian branch of the Archer family. In any case they were not in Ambridge during the 20s and 30s, although Ben returned to Ambridge in 1969 (at Laura's invitation) and died shortly thereafter. 

The third son, **Frank** , (b.1 June 1900 d. 30 May 1957) married **Laura Wilson** (Aunt Laura. b.28 Aug 1911). They would have been courting in the late 1920s. After their marriage they moved to New Zealand where they lived for some years. There are no recorded children of the marriage. Both were still very much alive when the series started, Frank died shortly thereafter and Laura returned to England. Laura died on 14 Feb 1985.

Of Dan and Doris' three children only **John (known as Jack)** had been born by the mid 20s (1922).

The Forrests

**Doris** (11 Jul 1900 – 27 Oct 1980) comes from another long established Ambridge family, the Forrests being recorded since **George Forrest** received public charity in 1725 (AlTreg p54). Their fortunes appear to have improved and another **George Forrest** , Doris' grandfather, was a well-known figure in the village in 1890 (photo AlTreg p 95) when he was probably in his 50s or 60s.

Doris's father, **William Forrest** , was probably born around 1880. He married **Lisa** (surname unknown) in the late 1880s (Lisa probably born c 1918) and Doris was born, with the century in 1900.

William had a brother, **Thomas Forrest** (b.c, who worked as a carter for an Ambridge hay seller. A photograph taken sometime around 1905 (AlTreg p 96) shows Doris's 'Uncle Thomas' (not to be confused with Christine's 'Uncle Tom') at about 25 years old so presumably around 40 in 1925.

Doris had two brothers, **Ted** , who died in 1920, possibly from the influenza epidemic that followed WWI, and **Tom** , ten years her junior who would have been a boy of 15 in 1925. Tom eventually became a gamekeeper on the Estate and would have been a part of the staff even as young as 15.


	3. The Gentry: Lawson-Hope, Netherbourne and Pargetters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter covers the families not included in the Archer family Tree and is necesarily more speculative. See also Chapter 1.

The Lawson Hope Family

The Lawson Hope family had owned the Manors of Ambridge and Lyttleton since 1472. They became Lawson-Hope in 1699. The Lawson-Hope Estate covered most of the East of Ambridge bounded by the Am to the South and Lakey Brook to the north. This was simply known as 'the Estate' and the owner was 'The Squire', a convention which makes it quite difficult to distinguish one from another.

I am by no means the first person to have come up against problems sorting out the Lawson Hopes. Fanta noted this in hir post on an Ambridge Who's Who idea (https://discussion.ambridgereporter.org.uk/t/that-archers-whos-who-idea/66)

_I can find; for instance Squire Lawson-Hope is always so named in The Book of The Archers, but is named as "Clive" in The Archers Encyclopaedia, and as "George" in To the Victor the Spoils by Jock Gallagher: which do I take as accurate? My every instinct says the latter because JG was writing closer to the time at which The Squire was on air, but it is a bit of a puzzle since he definitely wanted his nephew Clive to take over from him because Clive was his namesake as well as his only male heir.... Should I give both names, and say why? and when did he die? TBoTA says 1954 but also has Admiral Bellamy selling his house to him in 1955._

To which I can add the name Francis from AlTreg. For my purposes I discount all the prior novelisations, novelists have to make decisions based on available data and their own creations and are at best, tertiary canon.

Whatever else can be said about the Lawson-Hopes, they are a family with a strong military history. In 1815 both an Archer and a Lawson Hope were at the Battle of Waterloo. The BOTA claims that a Gabriel (possibly one of Nathan's sons) was batman to 'the Squire's (unnamed) father at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917'. This seems odd since AlTreg (p99) states that the last Squire of Ambridge, **Francis (Clive) Lawson Hope** commanded the 2nd Batallion of the West Borsetshire Regiment in WWI. It seems that both Francis and his father took part and it is possible that the senior Lawson Hope lost his life in action, passing the estate on to his soldier son. Which must have been a problem with death duties. Since we have no name (or army rank) for the senior Lawson Hope I venture to suggest that the George of the Galagher novel is appropriate. No surprise that the location of the Manor is such a secret!

The West Borsetshire appears to have been a 'pals' regiment since 35 Ambridge men enlisted under Major Francis Lawson-Hope. Some, notably the five sons of Joseph Marney of Marneys farm (AlTreg), appear not to have returned.

Major Francis (Clive) Lawson-Hope appears to have been born around 1895 (he would have been of age (21) to inherit on his father's death, at the age of around 45, in 1917.

Francis married **Lettie** after the War. Her family name is unknown, but since she is occasionally referred to as 'Lady Lettie' we may speculate that she holds the title in her own right (the daughter of a Duke, Marquess or Earl. It is therefore posible that she is related to the Netherbourne family as the closest titled family in Ambridge. Lettie survived her husband by 4 years and died in 1958.

There are two other named family members, **Clive Lawson-Hope** , nephew to Francis, and **Percy** (possibly not a Lawson-Hope but another uncle to Clive) both born after 1920 so probably children at the relevant dates.

The Netherbournes

The squires of Ambridge do not have a title (although see above, Lettie Lawson-Hope is sometimes called 'Lady Lettie' presumably a courtesy title). So the only local family with a hereditary title are the residents of Netherbourne Hall, Lord and Lady Netherbourne. (There was a Sir John Pargetter at Lower Lockley, but he was not a baronnet) We do not know their family name, or their precise degree of nobility, but they are related to **Caroline Bone** 'on her mother's side'. When the Duke of Westminster agreed to visit Ambridge in 1984 he 'was prepared to have Caroline Bone as a relation through his mother's side of the family' (Smethurst p190). Her family name was Lyttleton which I have taken for the Netherbournes.

There is no indication of first names for Lord and Lady Netherbourne, either in the present day or back in the early 20C.

The Pargetters

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/55912776@N05/39621685684/in/dateposted-public/)

Lower Loxley Hall has been in the hands of the Pargetter family for centuries. They are, however, very sparsely recorded (I have yet to find a complete inventory of the family portraits which are mentioned from time to time.) We have two names from TBOTA, **Henrietta, Lady Pargetter** (1760) and Sir John Pargetter who 'made a fortune in Colonial India'. He would therefore have been born in the early 19C (say around 1820 – 1880. There is no record of his wife's name or family. According to WarMem the Ambridge war memorial was unveiled by Major General Sir Robert Pargeter (sic) on 16 May 1921. Although this is (at best) tertiary canon, I am inclined to accept it as fitting into the established Pargetter history with Sir Robert as Sir John's son (Nigel's grandfather), perhaps born in India mid-century and would have been the resident owner of Lower Loxley during WW1 (though possibly a bit old to have served in the field), when his son, **Gerald** was born. There is no date of birth given for Gerald, although his wife, **Julia** (nee Joan Rogers) was born 17 August 1924, so I have assumed a slightly earlier birthdate for Gerald (c1884) given that they met when she was performing on the stage (in 'popular wartime revues'). Their children, Nigel and Camilla, fall outside the scope of this work.


	4. Tradesmen and other Residents: Gabriels, Bellamys, Blowers and Grundys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter covers those families in Ambridge not related to the Archers, but nervertheless part of village life and history.

The Gabriels   
[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/55912776@N05/40176913732/in/dateposted-public/)

The Gabriel family in Ambridge goes back to at least the 12C but they have always been romantics and storytellers so it is difficult to establish the truth of some of their wilder flights of fantasy (I tend to take the story that Nelson told Lynda Snell about the hippie **Gabriel Gabriel** of the 18C (Snell p 36-7) with a very large pinch of salt!)

He also states that the Gabriels have been blacksmiths and that the first Nelson had a smithy in the village. This is described in several sources, and eventually became the garage. 

I can speculate that the name 'Nelson' is a legacy of some patriotic Gabriel naming his newborn son in honour of the Hero of Trafalgar in 1805. This first **Nelson** would have been long dead by 1925, but his sons, (Walter's father possibly another  Nelson), and **Nathan** (maybe twins?) were probably born around 1830 and are almost certainly dead by 1925. There may have been other, earlier children who did not survive infancy.

**Walter** himself was born on 25 August 1896 (TBOTA). This is very late for him to be the son of someone born around 1830, possibly he was the child of a second marriage to a younger wife. This may also explain why he seems not to have taken up the family trade (possibly already passed to Nathan and his son(s)) but had a smallholding, said to be 'near Back Lane' before WWI (AlTreg 118). Whether this is the same as 'Gabriel's Farm (later Wynfords) which he farmed in 1950 is unknown.

The Gabriel who took over as village smith was probably Nathan Gabriel, who would have passed it on to his son (around the same age as Walter) sometime around 1900. His name is unknown, but it would not be unusual for his parents to have followed the biblical theme especially if his wife was from a family that also did this (I have speculated that she was a Tring, and some relative of Zebedee.) The biblical sons of Nathan were _Azariah and Zabud_ (1 Kings 4:5) (too good to miss!)  
The Gabriel who took over the smithy who was Walter's contemporary ( _Azariah Gabriel_?) certainly seems to have had the Gabriel entrepreneur spirit since (as was not unusual at the time), the smithy, with its motto over the door of 'By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand' gave way to a garage in the 1920s (Snell 37). This stood at the top of the Village Green, opposite the Police Station. Azariah would have been in his 60s in 1925, so possibly by this time his son (another _Nathan_?) had taken over as smith/garage mechanic.

The Bellamys

The Bellamy family were one of the most important in Ambridge, Admiral Bellamy (c 1880 – 1964) owned the Bellamy Estate (sold to the Lawson Hopes in 1954/5), and Manor Court (in its original position on Blossom Hill), which latter passed to his son Ralph on his death. There is no record of Ralph's mother,or the rest of the family. The Bellamys are threfore something of a blank slate, along with:

The Grundys and Blowers

The Grundy family have very little recorded history within Ambridge before 1960 (they didn't appear in the original broadcasts of The Archers). However, AlTreg lists a key family, the Blowers, as one of the oldest in Ambridge, with a Richard Blower of Hollerton mentioned in 1557, and another in 1642. Thereafter nothing until Joe Blower, and his sister Clara, become tenant farmers on the Lawson Hope estate. Joe was a contemporary of Walter Gabriel and a competitor for Mrs Perkins' affections until he sold the farm tenancy (we don't know which farm, possibly Grange Farm) without the Squire's permission, and left Ambridge.

It is possible that there is a connection by marriage between the Blowers and the Grundys.

Other early 20C Ambrige residents

Mother Horsefall lived at April Cottage (aka Toad Cottage) in Back Lane C 1905  
Fred Newcombe, estate manager for Squire L-H in 1920s.

**Author's Note:**

> References
> 
> 25Y: Twenty Five Years of the Archers, Jock Gallagher BBC Books 1975  
> 30Y: The Archers: The First Thirty Years, William Smethurst, Eyre Menthuen, 1980  
> AlTreg: Ambridge : An English Village Through The Ages by J Aldridge and J Tregorran, Eyre Methuen 1981  
> TBOA: The Book of the Archers Heidi Nicklaus Michael Joseph 1994  
> Snell: Lynda Snell's Heritage of Ambridge, Carol Boyd, Virgin 1997  
> BBC Archers Website  
> Perkins C: Mapping Ambridge. In Courage, Hedlam & Matthers (ed) _The Archers in Fact and Fiction_ (pp 89-102. Oxford Peter Lang AG 2017  
>  Nicholls T: Locating Ambridge &c. In Courage & Hedlam (ed) _Custard Culverts and Cake_ (pp 147-163. Emerald Publishing 2017  
>  Meyer M: Some Corner of a Foreign Field &c In Courage & Hedlam (ed) _Custard Culverts and Cake_ (pp 231-246. Emerald Publishing 2017  
>  WarMem: Listing War memorials in England, A Guide for Volunteers. Historic England 2015 https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/listing-war-memorials-in-england/


End file.
